1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a built-in lock for locking a window consisting of a leaf that is turnably affixed in a fixed frame.
2. Background
It is known that to lock the leaf in the frame of a window, the leaf is provided with a fitting groove along its outer periphery in which at least one locking slat is movably affixed, whereby this locking slat is provided with one or more studs and which can move with the locking slat between a locked position in which the studs on the locking slat are held in corresponding lock holes of the fixed frame, and an unlocked position in which the studs are withdrawn from these lock holes.
The built-in lock comprises a handle in a known way with a lever and a spindle that fits in an operating mechanism that is fastened at the location of the aforementioned fitting groove and which is intended for converting the rotation of the handle into a translation for moving the at least one locking slat between the aforementioned locked and unlocked positions.
Conventionally the handle is fastened turnably in a ‘base’ with which the handle can be fastened on the leaf by means of screws or similar that insert through screw holes that are provided in the base to this end.
Such a base must protrude outside the base of the handle to provide access to the aforementioned screw holes of the base.
Such a base is then also relatively large and interferes with the aesthetic appearance of the window, also due to the fact that the screws are prominently visible in the screw holes.
Moreover, with such a built-in lock the handle must always remain mounted on the window, which means that such windows take up extra space and consequently fewer windows can be transported per load.
In addition, such a mounted handle forms a potential risk of damage to itself and to other windows during transport or handling of the windows.
‘Baseless’ handles are now also known, whereby the base can be mounted on the window separate from the handle by means of screws or similar.
After mounting the operating mechanism in the fitting groove and the base on the front of the leaf, the handle is mounted, whereby the spindle of the handle is pushed through a passage in the base into the operating mechanism until the base of the lever of the handle comes up against the base.
Because the base can be mounted on the leaf as a separate component, the screw holes in the base do not necessarily have to be accessible when the handle is mounted, such that the base does not necessarily have to protrude outside the handle and thus can be made less conspicuous and can be somewhat concealed under the base of the handle.
Such built-in locks with a baseless handle are already known whereby the spindle of the handle can be snapped into the operating mechanism by means of a spring-loaded pin that is mounted in the spindle of the handle and which snaps into the operating mechanism when the base of the lever comes up against the base. An example of this is described in DE 195.27.450.
As a result of the spring-loaded pin the handle cannot be removed unintentionally. If necessary the lever can be removed by pushing the pin back in a cutaway in the operating mechanism with a tool.
This provides the advantage that the handle does not necessarily have to be mounted during transport and as a result can prevent the disadvantages attached thereto.
The place where the spring-loaded pin must be provided on the spindle of the handle depends on the distance at which the operating mechanism is mounted from the front of the leaf, or thus from the place where the fitting groove is located with respect to the front of the leaf, as the operating mechanism is mounted on the leaf at the location of such a fitting groove.
As there are many types of profiles from which a leaf of a window can be built, each with a different position of the fitting groove, a different handle must be used for each type of profile with a suitable location of the spring-loaded pin on the spindle.
Another known solution consists of providing the same handle for a number of types of profiles with a fixed position of the spring-loaded pin, but by providing a base with an upright high collar in order to conceal the clearance between the base of the lever and the front of the leaf. In this case, use is made of different clamping plates to fill up the space between the built-in lock and the front wall of the leaf against which the base is affixed.
A disadvantage of the known built-in locks with a baseless handle is that a number of types of handles have to be used for a number of types of window profiles.
A disadvantage attached to this is that mistakes are not ruled out with an incorrect size of handle or base belonging to a certain type of window.